- Book Reviews by Charles King -
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| During the past few years, a new variant of popular history has grabbed the public’s attention and pocketbooks; concise studies of sometimes trivial subjects whose historical effect far outweighed their apparent importance. Dava Sobel’s Longitude was one of the first of this new breed, followed in short order by similarly structured works by authors including Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman), and Mark Kurlansky (Cod). Besides being entertaining and well written, such books appeared to touch a peculiar nerve among readers for whom time is an increasingly precious commodity. These books are essentially undemanding in their requirements for sustained study or attention, and can be consumed piecemeal or in short order as a reader’s busy schedule allows. A natural outgrowth of the success of these books is an even more abbreviated approach to history, in which thematic compendiums organize information into easily consumed and digestible chunks. Here are a trio of entrants in this newest popular genre, as well as a pair of more conventional, and excellent, histories. | |||
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